


The Man With The Plan

by mydogfoundthechainsaw



Category: The Tomorrow People (2013)
Genre: Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-03-31
Packaged: 2018-01-17 14:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1391290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydogfoundthechainsaw/pseuds/mydogfoundthechainsaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the Tomorrow People prepare to kill the Founder, Jedikah reflects. His Plan is failing him, and he's not happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Man With The Plan

Sometimes Jedikah liked to play a little game of “what if.” Normally it was a relaxing, fun exercise. Because his plans always worked out. But lately that game had grown tiresome. For his plans had started to fail.

                The endgame might, if he played his cards correctly, but even that hope was growing shaky at best. Because Stephen and his little friends had turned out to be more unpredictable than he first thought. Most of the time, they danced right into his hands, but occasionally they heard a different tune. And, of course, it was always at the worst possible time. He’d been able to change things as he went along, but if everything didn’t start following the letter soon, he’d be screwed.

                Like with this plan with the Founder. The part with John might work. John would kill again, no matter how much he promised he wouldn’t. Once you realized killing was a possibility, it was never that hard to pull the trigger. You might still feel bad, like John did, but it was never impossible. They were all kind of predictable in that way—John, Stephen, all the Tomorrow People—they were too much of a family not to fall for it. They’d kill the Founder simply because he’d hurt their kind.

                So when Stephen came to him with a modified plan, he simply smiled. Of course he would help. Of course saving her from prison was a great idea, Stephen. Why wouldn't it be? He wanted to save his brother, after all. Everything seemed to revolve around that man. It always had. And that's what had gotten them here.

                But he still couldn’t believe they were so trusting, so naïve. It took a little while to convince them, but still. He never would've fallen for his own lies. It was beautiful, in its own way, how, for all of Ultra’s work, they still wanted to believe in the innate good of people. How quickly they’d let that idea that his whole routine was to help them sink into their head. He felt bad, for an instant, about it all, but the feeling passed. Eventually they’d grow up. Eventually they’d evolve into something like him.

                Yet when he got there, everything changed. He knew it wasn’t going to work as soon as it started. Russell wasn’t really impeding his plans, but he had enough disbelief in his voice that Jedikah knew if the Founder opened his mouth he’d be screwed. And the Founder would talk. He would worm his way into their thoughts quickly and quietly, and everything would fall to pieces. Maybe they weren’t so trusting after all. They got into the facility suspiciously easy, and for a second, he wished they’d done it sooner. It would’ve all been easier earlier on--less lies to explain away. But without that girl, it wouldn’t have worked. And without her being tortured, the Tomorrow People wouldn’t have found an incentive.

                And Russell kept talking. Apparently, his powers were fueled by stupid comments that had to be said every five seconds. It was grating. He wasn’t sure how any of them had continued to outwit him. It was kind of humiliating. It’d been factored into the Plan, but still. Their leader was a woman with way too many issues and stubborn enough to train a cat. Her second-in-command/lover was, well, he was the product of him and Rodger. Their worst and their best, all wrapped up in one beautifully delectable and submissive package. Then there was Stephen, with his many lives all finding a way to become intertwined, and so hopelessly nice. Rodger would be proud, and distantly, he realized he was too. And for some reason, he knew things were going to get interesting with those three pretty soon.

                Not that he was one to judge, with the mother of his child and only love being one of those he’d spent his life trying to understand and then kill. How was it that everyone who’d ever mattered to him was one of them? The only people he surrounded himself with were superior, and yet he wanted to save humanity. But they’d all loved him back. Even if he didn’t deserve it. He would never deserve it.

                But now, the act was coming to a close. The play wasn’t done yet, but the intermission was now. Things had to change, because apparently everything had gone to shit. They’d taken too long. Who knew what he’d told them. It didn’t even matter who was telling the truth anymore. He wasn’t sure what the truth even was. Whoever won them over would be king, and he stopped wanting to be second-best a long time ago.

                So he pulled out the gun. Russell’s eyes widened in fear, and for a second, he felt guilty. But he always ended up here. It didn’t really matter anymore. Why should it? His whole life had been spent doing this, screwing people over, breaking their trust, and feeling no guilt about it all. And then Russell took him away. Maybe they’d realize now, maybe they’d never trust anyone ever again. He almost hoped they wouldn’t; their naivety was beautiful and refreshing, not just useful.

                It didn’t really matter to him now. The Plan had to be reworked, and that was what mattered. The Plan had been in a continuous state of flux lately, and it was his fault. He knew he’d figure it out in the end. He had to; he’d spent too much time on this path. He couldn’t give up. And it was tragic.

                Because he was tired. So goddamn tired. He wanted a family. He wanted to come home to Morgan and his kid, to have John and Cara and Stephen show up for dinner, to reunite Rodger with his wife, to even listen to Russell and TIM bitch at him for hours. But that would never happen. He wasn’t a good man; he was just good at what he did. So he’d be good at this, this Plan, and then he’d hope and pray he got some kind of life afterwards.


End file.
